Shohei Ohtani Keeps Building His MVP Case

The Los Angeles Angels season is a wash at this point.

But Shohei Ohtani continues to amaze with his two-way abilities.

Last night, he had yet another solid performance on the mound, tossing six innings of two-run ball against a powerful Seattle Mariners lineup while striking out eight batters and walking just one.

He kept the Halos in the game and gave them a chance to win, a chance they failed to capitalize on thanks to their ninth-inning implosion.

But with his eight strikeouts last night, Ohtani is now tied for the fifth-most strikeouts in all of baseball.

He’s also already tied for 10th in home runs.

With 8 Ks tonight, Shohei Ohtani is now tied for the 5th most strikeouts in MLB this season.

He is also tied for 10th in HRs this season. 🤯 pic.twitter.com/jqkYeWg0QG

— theScore (@theScore) August 16, 2022

Ohtani’s MVP Case

While the Angels continue to implode, Ohtani keeps building his case to repeat as the American League MVP.

With Aaron Judge hitting as many home runs as he’s been hitting, Ohtani will have a much more difficult path to winning the award, but with his two-way abilities, it certainly isn’t out of the realm of possibility.

He’s building a strong case for winning the award, just as he did last year on his way to actually taking it home.

Even in the midst of all the Angels’ struggles, Ohtani has managed to stay within himself and keep showing why he might just be the best player in all of baseball.

When you can tie for fifth in strikeouts as a pitcher and 10th in home runs as a hitter, you’ve built yourself a strong case for taking home the MVP Award.

He may not win it this year because of Judge’s power surge, but in any other year, he’d be a strong contender for it.